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anonymous

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Okay I have been doing tons of reading on this particular song....most of it written by people OTHER than Amy lol! But I did run across some stuff that seems legit about 1. Amy NOT actually being bipolar (wasn't that the boyfriend?) and 2. Her point to the song NOT being directly connected to the drug literally. Having said that I have to say that even if it was MEANT to be metaphoric, the song speaks to me on literal terms.

I am bipolar. I do not take lithium I take depakote. But I absolutely relate to the drug with this song. I know that for me and others in my family (lucky me ended up with it genetically) it can be really hard to take a mood stabilizer. A lot of other posters have mentioned this in different ways. For one, depending upon how long you've gone without a diagnosis, the depressive episodes can be devastating and yet so familiar and safe that one can want to resist leaving them...(...here in the darkness I know myself...). And often the manic state is such a relief to the depression that the thought of taking something to reduce the mania is scary - and for some it can even be emotionally paralyzing...somebody already referred to the 'zombie' state....(..don't want to.....drown my will to fly...). Yes I am just picking on that one section of the song, but if you can get the jist of what I'm saying it is easy to relate the actual use (and fear) of a mood stabilizer to this entire song....aptly named Lithium.

So in my opinion Amy needs to be applauded for how staggeringly accurate her metaphores are when applied to the actual use of a mood stabilizing drug. I was in disbelief when I learned she was not bipolar because to read the lyrics to this song I automatically felt ...WOW she has BEEN THERE!!!! And hence, this is now my absolute favorite song!!!!

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anonymous

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THIS SONG IS ABOUT AMY AND HOW SHE HAS BEEN SAD FOR SO LONG THAT IT IS THE ONLY WAY SHE KNOWS HERSELF AND HOW SHE IS RELUCTANT TO LET GO OF THAT SADNESS. LITHIUM STANDS FOR WHATEVER THING IT IS WHICH HAS POTENTIAL TO MAKE HER HAPPY BUT FOR HER TO ACCEPT AND FOLLOW THIS "LITHIUM" SHE MUST LET GO OF THE SADNESS WHICH HAS BECOME HER.

Lithium, don't want to lock me up inside.
(DOESN'T WANT TO LOCK UP THE PART OF HER WHICH IS SADNESS)
Lithium, don't want to forget how it feels without...
(DOESN'T WANT TO FORGET THE SAD PART OF HER}
Lithium, I want to stay in love with my sorrow.
(KIND OF SELF EXPLANITORY)
Oh but god I want to let it go.
(BUT AT THE SAME TIME SHE WANTS TO BE HAPPY AS WELL AND HAVE THE "LITHIUM")

Come to bed, don't make me sleep alone.
(SPEAKIN TO WHATEVER OR WHOEVER THE "LITHIUM" IS)
Couldn't hide the emptiness, you let it show.
(SHE LET HER EMPTYNESS SHOW)
Never wanted it to be so cold.
(SHE DIDN'T PLAN ON BEING SO SAD BUT NOW ITS A WAY OF LIFE)
Just didn't drink enough to say you love me.
(SHE FINDS IT HARD TO ACCEPT THAT SHE LIKES BEING HAPPY)

I can't hold on to me,
wonder what's wrong with me.
(BECOMING HAPPY=LOSING GRIP ON THE OLD/SAD PERSON)

Don't want to let it lay me down this time.
(DOESN'T WANT TO LET THE HAPPINESS OR "LITHIUM" BECOME HER)
Drown my will to fly.
(SHE IS RESISTING THE URGE TO BECOME HAPPY)
Here in the darkness I know myself.
(SHE IS FAMILLIAR WITH THE SAD HER WHICH IS WHY SHE FINDS IT HARD TO BE HAPPY)
Can't break free until I let it go.
(SHE CANT BE HAPPY TILL SHE LETS GO OF ALL THE SADNESS)
Let me go.
(TALKING TO THE SADNESS)

Darling, I forgive you after all.
(SHE FORGEVES HERSELF FOR GOING BACK TO SADNESS)
Anything is better than to be alone.
(COS THE SAD PART OF HER IS LIKE A OLD FRIEND)
And in the end I guess I had to fall.
(IT NEVER WOULD HAVE WORKED OUT ANYWAY)
Always find my place among the ashes.
(THERE IS ALWAYS A PLACE FOR HER IN SADNESS)

This song is one of the most powerful on The Open Door and I reckon is interesting cos of its different view of happiness.

The opinion of a sixteen year old school student...

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anonymous

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Lithium is a drug which would ward off the feelings that come with manic depression, which would mean she'd would lack the feelings of intensity that the mania produces and at the same time her feelings of sorrow from the depression would no longer co exists. As hard as it might seem for someone to imagine, sometimes it is hard to consider 'letting go' of your depression because certain types of depression, dysthemia, seem to be your a part of your personality. When going on drugs you're running the risk of losing the person that you've become and probably accepted. Depression produces such intense, unexplainable emotions, even if they are negative, they are incredibly addicting. Some of the worlds best writing came from depressed people. This became one of my favorite songs since the first time I listened to it.
R. Bell G.

anonymous

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hello lithium the song is a great song i can relate to this song because i have bipolar and lithium is used to treat bipolar and i take lamictal for my bipolar and i relate to the lyrics cause sometimes i cant let go of my sadness and i can remember but although i dont feel the sadness that comes with bipolar anymore taking my medication. i can remember my past but i want to be able fully forget and become more like the whole self and not depressed and broken self / lamictal my bipolar keeps me happy and it the meds that pick up the broken pieces of / really good song and love to listen ....

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My mother suffered from bipolar disorder and didn't like taking the meds for it (hers was not actual Lithium) because she said that she didn't feel like herself when she did so and that when she did she couldn't really feel anything at all. Many bipolar people are "addicted" to how the disease makes them feel, and the drugs make them feel a "withdrawal" from this, so it's backward of how it is for most people, as the drugs are the "cause" of the withdrawal rather than what makes the feeling of withdrawal subside.

The voice of the narrator of the song (could be just a character, not all songs are strictly autobiographical) seems to be more addicted/hung up on the "down" side, which as someone has already pointed out, seems to make for some of the very best songwriting.

This is a really tragic song and makes me think of my mother and everyone else who fights the daily war with themselves that bipolar disorder is.

anonymous

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This song is about depression. I get depression spells and it's just like this-- 'I want to stay in love with my sorrow', you just don't want to be happy, 'Can't hold on to me wonder what's wrong with me', you don't feel in control or understand what's going on, 'Anything is better than to be alone', a severe sense if loneliness, 'find my place among the ashes', sometimes you feel like sadness is where you should be in life, & 'Don't wanna lock me up inside/don't wanna forget how it feels without', you hate this feeling and want rid of it, but somehow too you love it and want to hang on to it.

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I was sick and i need to take some drugs 5 years ago
I still praying for my emotion to be healed
Because my emotion it's quite bipolar ...
Scare of being passonate... and it drives misunderstanding of ppl why i'm so arrogant...
But the truth is!I was feeling insecure!!I was scared.

I'd been living without normal emotion for almost 3 years!It's painful but i sure that Jesus will heal me one day..

anonymous

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i have one thing to say about one line in this song; "Always find my place among the ashes" Nobody Likes the ashes a fire leaves behind, they are grey, and useless. who wants the ashes of what was burnedd in the past?

anonymous

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i really understand what she means when she says i wanna stay in love with my sorrow oh but let it go, when i feel depressed , sumtimes i wanna sink into a deeper depression its oddly comforting and it starts to feel normal or like its all you know anymore . i once felt like a total zombie for a week even when i drank a lot of soda to boost my mood . but like her in a way i also want to let my sorrow go sometimes, this song is great to listen to outside at night on the roof. She also says darling i forgive you after all , anything is better than being alone i once felt like that too , i forgave ssomeone over and over i wanted them around, not just any1 bt him ...but i also didnt want anyone else leaving like some friends and stuff bt they mostly came back anyways the point is its really hard to feel this way feeling abandoned .

anonymous

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Lithium is a drug prescribed to treat bipolar disorder and depression. Sometimes your sadness becomes a part of you though, and you dont want to let it go.
At the same time, you want to be happy. Once the Lithium is started, she can't hold onto the old her and the sadness. Eventually she goes back to the sadness and forgives herself for it because when she's happy, she feels alone.

An opinion from a seventh grader.

anonymous

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i think that this song is about how amy wants to 'stay in love with her sorrows' to make it easier for her writting prosses cause her being in that mood of deppression is when all the songs come out and she fears if she is happy that she will lose that.

anonymous

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What is wrong with all of you? Lithium, amongst several other antipsychotics, is prescribed for biopolar disorder, as well as manye other psychological disorders, including those of biopsychosocial disorders. If anyone knows about borderline personality disorder, please speak up. So, so, SO many of her songs empasize the struggles and the hell of living within these sort of personality traits. Do your homework.

anonymous

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Interesting interpretations and I can certainly see how Amy using "lithium" as a metaphor for staying in a relationship that has been reduced to ashes could provoke the listener to wonder what lithium is even used for. Perhaps after reading a bit about it, one would seek medical advice from a doctor about this drug unaware that she most likely is using it as a metphor. Hypothetically, this would be considered a breech in confidentiality, or something like t

I think the meaning is obvious; reasons for her to remain in a failed relationship become the source of her sorrow and numbing effect. Probably her marriage as there usually aren't many reasons to stay with someone that could evoke this particular type of emotion, I would think. But music is how you hear it and feel it which could be taken a shit-ton many ways depending on who hears it...which is everyone, obviously.

anonymous

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In the song, Amy Lee narrates that she has been holding sorrow inside her for so long that it has become an integral part of her. Lithium is a metaphor for whatever it is that will take her pain away, and she wants to let it go but she isn't prepared to part with her sorrow.

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Lithium is about wanting to hang on to your negative feelings even though you're miserable because you feel they make you who you are or that they make you feel like you belong ("always find my place among the ashes."), despite feeling horrible all the time. You can’t imagine life without this sadness. You know this isn't normal but you can't stop yourself from needing to feel this way. You know you'll never be free from this unless you can really bring yourself to let go of it and, in the end, you make the decision that you need to move on and let it go.

anonymous

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I think this song is about Amy's relationship with Ben who was bi-polar. I am a bi-polar university student and it can become a constant struggle not only for the sufferer but also those close to them. In my worse of moments I bring down those around me who want to help but cannot, especially my girlfriend and mother, both of whom have gone through spurts of depression dealing with my ups and downs.

I think this speaks to those (and also Amy's own) in a relationship with a bi-polar person who find it hard to deal with and ultimately themselves become depressed. I think it is about the struggle to retain yourself and accept that for your own sake you must break off the relationship or find some sort of solution and the emotional struggle that comes with feeling that you've caused somebody you care about to feel they are "broken" and will only make those who care about them and they care about sad. Unfortunately not all people are emotionally strong enough to be a partner to someone suffering from bi-polar but there's definitely more than enough to go around for all those suffering with bi-polar. It's just a matter of finding them.

Lithium, don't want to lock me up inside.
(speaking to the partner's emotions and the way they make her feel)
Lithium, don't want to forget how it feels without…
(don't want to lose the partner)
Lithium, I want to stay in love with my sorrow.
(love them, but they cause her so much sadness)
Oh, but God, I want to let it go.
(inside truly knows its best for her to move on)

Come to bed, don't make me sleep alone.
(partner is having a bad day, wants to isolate himself)
Couldn't hide the emptiness, you let it show.
(partner couldn't hide his feelings, now bringing her down)
Never wanted it to be so cold.
(never wanted the relationship to be this way)
Just didn't drink enough to say you love me.
(bi-polar's often abuse substance to feel better, can be very caring when under influence)

I can't hold on to me,
(losing her old self to depression)
Wonder what's wrong with me.
(doesn't understand why she is unhappy, when partner needs her to be strong because of his own emotions brought on by bi-polar)

Don't want to let it lay me down this time.
(want to be able to be strong for partner's sake)
Drown my will to fly.
(partner's moods bring her down)
Here in the darkness I know myself.
(even when sad, she is with partner so she feels its the right thing to do, its whats normal to her)
Can't break free until I let it go.
(hard to break the habit)
Let me go.
(but wants to be free)

Darling, I forgive you... After all,
(after breaking off being unable to move on)
Anything is better than to be alone.
(crawling back to whats farmilar)
And in the end I guess I had to fall.
(letting it "lay her down" again)
Always find my place among the ashes.
(bi-polar person will always love her, she feels)

I can't hold on to me,
(losing herself to depression brought on by partner's bi polar)
Wonder what's wrong with me.
(wishes it wouldn't affect her so much)